the Mya-Moe tone

Our goal is to build ukuleles with a tone that is "uniquely Mya-Moe"--a tone that combines the classic ukulele sound, with what our owners have described as "sparkle" and "punch".

When you hear a Mya-Moe, you know it.

How do we do this? The secrets are our updated bracing system and careful engineering of scale length, body size and shape, married with a building process that is geared towards consistency.

Char and Aaron are our tone experts. They are accomplished musicians with great ears for tonal differences. They also have a combined experience of hand-building over 500 instruments.

When they pick up a piece of wood, they can hear the final outcome. Their goal is to transform that wood into an instrument which offers superior voice and sustain while allowing the characteristics of each individual set of wood to shine through.

Each type of wood tends toward a general resulting tone. For instance, koa and mango lean toward a warmer, broader sound while maple and ebony finish toward a punchy and bright with distinct attack. The type of wood a player chooses for his instrument will be influenced by their playing style and preference for the resulting tone.

Beyond simply the type of wood used, the exact set of wood used to make an instrument has its own, very unique personality. For example, every set of koa we have is slightly, if not, dramatically different from every other set. One may have more curl. One may feel denser than another. Some feel more pliable. All these variations occur within each type of wood with which we build.

As the building process progresses, we learn more & more about the wood set we're manipulating. After bending the sides, we get a better idea of how this instrument will open up over time.

While we feel that our finish & playability are second-to-none, our emphais is on acoustics. We hand voice every instrument that we make. The thickness of the back, top and sides is carefully measured (to .001") and we custom thickness each piece to bring out the best that the particular set of wood has to offer. Our goal is to maximize sustain and potential volume while delivering a sound that is uniquely "Mya-Moe" and speaks of the wood.